Mr Keating’s opinion on the project is shared by many vendors and customers alike.

Antique watch and hat salesman, Farukh Sazegar said, “There has been absolutely no guarantee for the stall owners and no care for what the market means to the people.”

“The developers have shown no sympathy. They don’t want a thriving market. It’s too hard for them to manage, and so now I’m concerned for my livelihood.”

Mr Sazegar said “the ambiguity of plans for the new market” is intentional because the reconstruction will cater to a reduced capacity of “those living in the new flashy buildings.”

A similar redevelopment occurred in London’s Borough Market, which Lord Mayor Robert Doyle had visited and listed as an inspiration for his plans for the Queen Victoria Market.

However, after its revamp the Borough market now receives a mere 20 per cent of its original business and is wrought with “wrangles over leaseholds, rent increases and a climate of fear among traders,” as reported by The Guardian.

Artist’s rendition of proposal

Many expect prices to rise with the planned 58-storey building that once constructed will be Melbourne’s tallest building, towering over the market at 322 metres and occupying the parking space.

“The parking is bad enough now, I just won’t be able to come anymore,” said lifelong patron of the market, Maria Matheson, “It will be too expensive to shop and for parking.”

“I’ve been coming to the market since 1955 when my family moved from Malta. It just seems ridiculous.”

The Queen Victoria Market is the largest open air market in the Southern Hemisphere and has been attracting tourists and locals since its opening in 1878.

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